Monday, November 21, 2005
No Name Face....
I had a big discussion regarding blogs last week with a bunch of technophobes. "Talking about yourself on the internet? It's a bit egomanical, isn't it?" they said. "Do you put your picture on your website Rhys?". I said I did. "It's a bit vain, isn't it?". I couldn't come up with an answer which didn't sound like a 13 year old emo kid (such as "It's a gateway to my tortured soul." bollocks), so this post is trying to do my bit to defend my hobby. To prove that we're not all one step up from Big Brother contestants.
I had a look through the past months archives, and one thing has struck me. I've taken a heck of a lot of photos of myself. Now, contrary to what all you readers may think, but I'm not a vain character. Au contraire, I'm very self depreciating, and I hate vanity (I bitch so badly about one of my mates, not offensively, just the fact that whenever he emails us a "selection of birthday photos" there's always just an individual one of him). Just felt like I had posted more of my ugly mug than most.
So, in true DG fashion, I'm going to try and put faces to names.
On My Blogroll
There are 28 blogs.
- 19 of those bloggers I know the look of (assuming Punclox as one blogger).
- 2 of the 9 I don't are excluded because I've not read them that long (and I'm a working man, so I can't be bothered searching through archives).
- The So-Called Chemist: I know the look of, but he hasn't posted a picture of himself on his blog.
- A further 5 are also excluded due to knowing them in real life (though not Loki, as I read his blog before meeting him, being Sarah's brother.
- That leaves just under half the bloggers on my blogroll I have never met, yet can put a name to their face.
On Technorati top 10
There are 21.5 million blogs.
- I haven't got the time to look at 21.5 million blogs.
- Of the top 10, only one can be construed as a 'personal' blog. It can also have the distinction of being able to say "I beat Rhys at the bloggies, but I digress. That blog has pictures of the writer.
- Of the top 100 (as of today), 32 have been claimed. Of those 32, 22 have pictures.
- Of those 22 pictures, 15 are actually of people.
Conclusions From This
Using the data I've collected through my lunch break.....
- Despite the fact that blogging is seen to be an egotistical thing, a lot of bloggers (around two-thirds) don't post pictures of themselves.
- From my data, people who don't post photos of themselves usually do so for a reason. Often it's not inkeeping with the blog they keep (mainly people who blog a lot about work).
- Linked to that, some blogs almost demand that personal photos be included. Mine for example is about my life and what I do. My blog - by it's very nature - is shallow, so I try and cutesie you to death with pictures of me with puppies (admittedly, a Neurofern No-No).
- Even though some bloggers on my list don't include photos of themsevles, I feel as though I know some of them a lot better than some people I meet day to day.
- Finally, I guess I am probably more vain than I would like to be.
I guess in closing I should throw it out to you. Do you post a picture of yourself on your blog? If yes, why yes? If no, why no? Is it not that much of an issue? Would you post anything more than your face on the internet?
